It was me that got killed by a bec in two shots and at that time I had all mw plate with 8 IF and full health. This was after last patch was released. Never has this happen to me. I've also gotten whacked to half health in one hit with polearms and 1handed weapons, haven't yet with a 2hand weapon.
Polearm animations of the bec and scottish are sooooo hard to see cause of the weapon model, you can barely see the tip of the bec when swung at you and when someone feints, it's almost impossible to block. Scottish halberds long spike/tip is what hits you in a swing, not the actual axe its self. I use a mw scottish halberd..
Like I said, i'm not asking for a nerf and I have no reason to lie about this, i'm not even a 2hand anymore, but I think some of the 2hand weapons should be adjusted. I really don't see a problem with making a 2hand warhammer unbalanced and let people use it on horse back. Not like the 2hand warhammer cav will be able to outreach any pole weapon...
Wouldn't have happened to get hit by gallon or plumbo, would you? They would do just about anyone in with 2 hits... a hit to the head and they can put me down in just one.
And that is another thing to keep in mind, if you hold an attack (as gallon typically does) and then release it at the right time, it will do more damage. A held swing to the head with pierce/blunt weapons will do massive damage to anyone. I agree that the bec and swiss have some form of "ghost reach" simply because they do both have a long skinny spike on the tip (i measured it when playing around with the models and the spike on the bec is a whole 7-8 cm long... pretty significant). However when you see someone with a bec or swiss it is one of those things where you just can't take risks when playing the range game. You have to sit tight and just realize "okay, I'm dealing with a bec/swiss, I can't get too cocky and hope his swing falls short, I know I'm dealing with a weapon a lot longer than it appears." You've been around here long enough to know that already, I'm sure, but it is definitely annoying when the range on such weapons is even longer than you've come to expect. I for one have a hard time judging the range on any long and skinny sword, be it a 1hander or 2hander. At least the bec and swiss have a visual clue (the "beak" or axe head) that gives you an estimate of their range... swords have nothing. It's as if they are just one long spike on the end of a bec, nearly invisible at most viewing angles.
Everyone has their own kryptonite in crpg, the name of the game is figuring out what yours is and learning how to beat it. If you have a hard time judging polearm lengths, that's your problem and not necessarily everyone's. Plenty of people can't judge the distance a scimitar can reach, but that weapon hasn't received a nerf because of it. Well, back on topic here... while the 2h warhammer might be very "visible" it certainly isn't lacking in stats either. Comparing it to the bar mace, it is 11cm longer, 2 points faster, and has only 3 damage less on the swings... plus it has a stab and a pretty potent alternate mode. The bar mace has always been a very strong weapon in the 2handers' arsenal, and yet the warhammer outclasses it in nearly all aspects.